The Register®

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/08/intel_nx_support/

Intel to add NX security to Pentium 4 in Q4

E-0 stepping to support WinXP SP2 feature

By Tony Smith

Posted in Channel, 8th July 2004 09:24 GMT

Intel will add support for Microsoft's No Execute (NX) security technology to its P4 CPUs in Q4, reports suggest.

Taiwanese motherboard maker sources cited [1] by DigiTimes claim the chip giant will introduce support for NX from the end of Q3. A BIOS update will be all that's required to enable support at the mobo level, they add.

The move will take in all of Intel's 90nm desktop CPUs: Pentium 4 and Celeron D. The recently released 'Nocona' 90nm Xeon DP will get it too - though probably sooner, when it ships at the start of August. The sources suggest the 90nm mobile Pentium M and Celeron M will get NX support too, but not for some time - Q1 2005 is the likely timeframe, they claim.

So, initially, it will be Socket T processors that gain the technology, when Intel introduces its E-0 core stepping in October [2]. The source say Intel will suffix each chip's model number with J to identify those with NX support.

Curiously, the sources don't appear to have mentioned the Mobile Pentium 4, which was upgraded to 90nm in June 2004 [3] and which is also expected to be upgraded to an E-0 core [4]. The MP4 doesn't have a high life expectancy, with the line believed to be scheduled for termination [5] early next year.

NX will be brought in at the OS level when Microsoft ships Windows XP Service Pack 2. AMD's Athlon 64 and Opteron processors already provide the basis [6] for NX, as will the upcoming 90nm incarnation [7] of Transmeta's Efficeon x86-compatible CPU. ®

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Intel preps i925XE chipset with gigahertz FSB [8]
PC maker confirms 775-pin Celeron D [9]
Intel to update 90nm Mobile P4 core [10]
Intel EOLs 3.06GHz Pentium 4 [11]
Intel preps P4 core update [12]
Intel to EOL Mobile P4 in Q1 2005 [13]
Intel ships mobile Prescott P4s [14]
AMD unveils Socket 939 processors [15]
Transmeta pledges 'no execute' security support [16]